Pay Cash For Christmas 2015 – Looking Back at 2014

This picture really upsets me.

It upset me before Christmas when I first saw it, and it has continued to haunt me through the holidays and into the new year.

Apparently, Santa (thats definitely his coat and glove) thinks its a good idea to give out loans so people can overspend themselves into disaster, and enter the new year further in debt than they already are.

Yuck.

Perhaps not the most elegant word, but one that perfectly explains how I feel looking at this picture and thinking about what it means for so many people.

Do you know how much YOU spent on the holidays this year?

I am not talking about a gut feeling, or ballpark figure, are you clear on what the holidays cost this year, and how much debt you will be repaying as 2015 begins?

My family’s Christmas 2014

I got clear on my Christmas 2014 number: $4276.49

My family has a $450 weekly budget, so even if I subtract $900 (for the two weeks of holidays) from this number, we still spent $3376.49 beyond our regular budget on Christmas this year .

That is a lot of money. But, you know what, I don’t regret a cent of it (OK, maybe I regret the $59.90 I spent on the two Laser Tag guns that didn’t work, and some of the less healthy food we ate) and when I reviewed what we spent the money on, every penny helped us enjoy our holiday in a uniquely Miller fashion.

So, if we don’t want to cut back on our holiday expenses, we need to SAVE for our holiday expenses, starting right now.

The Miller Family will be paying for Christmas 2015 with cash.

What if, at the end of 2015, you paid for your holiday season entirely with cash? Are you ready to make a “Pay Cash for Christmas 2015” commitment?

But first, a look at Christmas 2014 numbers

Perhaps you are wondering: “How does a 3-person/1 dog family have a $4,000+ Christmas?”

Love it! Looking at the numbers is always important, and here is my families spending breakdown for Christmas 2014 with some short explanations:

Ski Equipment – $1538.88: My family lives on the side of a ski hill and it is our main winter activity. My wife’s skis were 8 years old so I bought her a new pair for Christmas. Almost three years ago I fully ruptured my Achilles, and my old boots don’t fit my “surgery foot” very well, so my wife bought me new ski boots.

Food – $634.96: This is food eaten while shopping for gifts, road trip food while driving to see family, and food for Christmas dinner and other dinners over two weeks.

Gas – $307.18: This is gas used to go shopping for gifts, driving to see family, and general driving over the two week holiday.

New Years – $649.23: This was hotel, tickets to a family festival, gas, food, and some other miscellaneous purchases.

Miscellaneous – $233.49: This covers medications, toiletries, etc. that we would normally purchase as part of life, but we happened to purchase during the two week holiday season.

Total $4276.49

You might be surprised at how quickly your own Christmas expenses add up once you take everything into account. If you are ready to find out, and want to start saving for Christmas 2015, click here and read Part Two!